Richard Slater
NS Nation Name: Jovuistan Character Name: Richard Slater Character Gender: Male Character Age: 61 Character Height: 6'2" Character Weight: 198 lbs Character Position/Role/Job: U.S. Senator from Arkansas (2005-present), Arkansas Secretary of Finance and Administration (1999-2003) Appearance: (Image) Character State of Origin: Arkansas Character State of Residence: Arkansas Character Party Affiliation: Republican Main Strengths: Passionate, assertive, sharp wit, loyal base. Main Weaknesses: Aggressive, stubborn, egotistical, short temper, disliked by moderates. Biography: Richard James Slater was born on November 27th, 1957. He was raised in a farm family outside of Fayetteville. His family had already built up a successful farming business over generations that had put them on a more high end of middle class. Slater's father was deeply invested in the farm, and worked day in and out to make sure their business prospered. His mother mostly stayed and home to support him and his brother and sister. Because of this, Slater's father was not heavily involved in raising his childern, though Richard did inherit his father's short temper. Despite some issues in his relationship with his father that resulted in frequent arguements when they were around each other, Slater was able to maintain a mostly normal childhood for a farm boy. He had graduated high school without much fanfare, and was expected by his parents to continue to support the farm afterwards. While Slater did overall enjoy farming, his growing tensions with his father and desire to be more than a simple farm boy led him to instead pursue college. He had been drawn to the more business and financial elements of farming from a young age, and had grow to obssess over the idea of wealth and the power that came with it. He pursued a bachelor's degree in Finance at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, along with his MBA. He would later meet his future first wife named Tammy during his time there. He additionally started to gain interest in politics as he frequently observed the debates and power struggles between Democrats and Republicans both at college and on the national level, growing deeply passionate about conservative views, especially as Reagan began his political revolution. Slater would go on to accept a job working for a local financial management consulting firm, and was able to gradually work up the ranks over the years into upper management. This was also the time he married Tammy, and they went on to have two children together. Some issues began to rise, however, as Slater began to imitate some of his father's pervious parenting, by frequently being absent from his children's lives to focus on work. After achieving success at the firm and gaining the confidence of his clients, Slater would go on to open his own firm. While the firm did start of successful, the recession that hit in the early 1990s just a year after it's formation damaged his reputation, as his clients accused him of not adequately preparing them to protect their finances during the recession. He was able to recover after a few years, however, and this was also when he began to becoming increasingly involved in the political scene. His dislike for (not Clinton) and passion for conservative ideology led him to begin donating frequently to local and state races, and he also formed connections through his firm with powerful individuals who would help support his career later on. His regional profile began to rise as he worked through connections with numerous people, and had developed a reputation as a firebrand conservative. During the 1998 Arkansas gubernatorial election, Slater was pushed frequently by some activists and his allies to run for office. Though Tammy had pushed him not to get involved in politics, Richard came to enjoy the idea of impacting the state and country and pushing it all in his own direction, and would announce to the surprise of some that he would run in the Republican primary. While he initially had limited name recognition outside of his circle of clients and republican activists, his unconventional and blunt manner of speaking throughout the campaign had garnered multiple headlines from local and state media. Because of all of this, along with some efforts from his more powerful friends, he was able to surprise many by coming in second in the primary, though the margin between him and the winner was far from close. After his election defeat, Slater returned to his firm for a few months, all while he had worked to convince his allies to get into the ear of the newly elected Republican governor, in an effort to potential score a cabinet position or better odds of winning an election next time. Despite initial skepticism from the governor and some of the party establishment, they eventually decide to give Slater the position as Secretary of Finance and Administration, in large part due to a desire to please Slater's more conservative base. During his tenure, he largely focused on supporting the governors policies, and had done largely well while in office, even if it wasn't particularly notable. What was notable however was when Tammy suddenly filed for a divorce in 2000, citing irreconcilable differences. As their two children had both already recently entered adulthood, there wasn't much of a dispute over them, and the divorce went on smoothly. Regardless, the whole affair had damaged his reputation and support among evangelicals and several other groups. Within 8 months of the divorce, Slater would go on to marry Janet, a woman who had served as a campaign staff member during his 1998 campaign, and have his third child with her. After the governor's re-election, he was let go of his position as Secretary due to the still somewhat looming fallout of the divorce and second marriage, along with the governor believing he had already done what he needed to do. Slater still had higher ambitions, and decide to run for U.S. Senate. He startedo off down as he was still heavily associated with the events of his divorce, though a decent amount of it had blown over by then. He was able to use his ability to get attention through his rhetoric and strong conservative ideas to regroup his base from the previous election, and expand it enough to narrowly pull off a win against the expected nominee. The establishment in the state was initially hesitant to give him a large amount of support due to the difficult relationship his ideals and words had created, but due to the opportunity they say in taking the seat back, they went on with him. With the incumbent Democrat retiring, Slater had the perfect opportunity to trash his opponent as much as he could while rallying his supporters at the polls. Accusing the Democrat of being "braindead" and "godless" and campaigning on supporting the war on terror, a conservative fiscal policy, and agricultural development, he was able to narrowly take the seat, putting him in the Senate. After he arrived, his relationship with his fellow Senators was strained by his short temper and aggressive arguements during debates. Many in his own party struggled to work with him as they felt he was far too crazy and combative to work with. Slater was still able to do what he had set out to do, and had pushed legislation to help farmers, push economic policies further to the right, supported the war on terror, and had also worked to make abortion laws much more strict, leading to renewed trust from the evangelical community. AFter (not Obama) was elected President, Slater tried his hardest to make himself an enemy of him. He frequently gave long and impassioned filibusters on everything from the ACA to the budget, and often obstructed his policies. He even tried to cause numerous government shutdowns throughout his presiency to get what he wanted. His actions had drawn ire from Democrats and Moderates, while his conservative base had eaten it all up. He was a founding member of the Tea Party Caucus, and was known as one of it's most loud and passionate members. Slater had also controversially suggested support for the birther conspiracy theory, and went as far as to question (not Obama)'s faith, accusing him of being a closet Muslim. This led to him being reprimanded by Democrats and even some Republicans. Despite this, Slater was still able to maintain his position as a loud conservative voice in the chamber. Slater was among the first notable politicians to endorse Wolf's campaign for President, and frequently rallied for him during the campaign. After the election, Slater had made himself into one of the President's closest allies in the Senate, almost always voting in favor of his policies. He had made multiple statement denouncing "posers" within the Republican Party who were only supporting Wolf after he became the nominee, again earning discontent from the Republican establishment. Largely, Slater is known as a more loud and aggressive Senator, disliked by traditional Republicans and even some fellow populists due to his tone and public statements. Regardless, he is still heavily liked by the Wolf wing of the party, and has capitalized on it's rise to the fullest extent, though his support among more moderate voters is very limited. With rumors of Wolf in poor health, some speculate that Slater could make a run for President if the race is open, and would likely run to support and represent the President's policies. Other Info: On the Committee of Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Subcommittee. I have read and accept the rules of the roleplay: Jovuistan